just junior · 2 just junior st mary’s school, waverley girls in a class of their own st mary’s...

JUST JUNIOR

GIRLS IN A CLASS OF THEIR OWN St Mary’s Junior School · Tel: 011 531 1880 · [email protected] · www.stmarysschool.co.za

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Junior Primary chapel serviceGrade 4 to 7 present collection for the Baragwanath Care Comfort committeeSenior Primary celebration eveningJunior Primary celebration morningSenior Primary Eucharist

Senior Primary report readingJunior Primary assemblyLittle Saints carol serviceGrade 7 valedictory service and leavers dinnerSenior Primary assemblyJunior Primary carol serviceGrade 7 market dayGrade 7 girls and peer counsellors meetingJunior Primary chapel serviceFinal carol service rehearsalCarol service 1 - EdgeCarol service 2 - EdgeJunior and Senior Primary final assemblyMeet class teacher 2017Little Saints closesJunior and Senior Primary closes

Ubaba's special Christmas was a vibrant production perfomed by the talented Grade 0s

From the headmistress' desk

Dear parents

As I write this final newsletter as head of St Mary’s Junior School, I am mindful of the pace at which these past 10 years have rushed by. In my personal life, it marks the journey from eight to 18 in the lives of my twins – and how rapidly they have each moved from child to adult.

One reflects on the journey of schooling and parenting, when you take that deep breath as your children embark on a journey into the wide world. The many questions that rush to mind are typical for parents: will they be okay? Can they stay strong in challenging situations? Will their values come to the fore when faced with decisions among friends? Have I been a "good enough" parent?

This is a link to an article I found to be informative and supportive of these questions. It is worth a read:http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/parenting/should-we-get-involved-in-our-kids-friendships-20161118-gssqeg.html.

Staff newsMs Refilwe Thindisa has resigned, as she wishes to explore teaching outside of Johannesburg. I have advertised her position on the ISASA website. Mrs Kerry Gibbons will be on maternity leave for the first term in 2017. Kerry and Ryan’s baby boy is due early in January, and our prayers will be with them as they welcome their baby. Ms Rosie Slabbert, soon to be Mrs Crisafulli, will be the Grade 7 and Maths locum teacher for the term. Rosie is a St Mary’s Old Girl, and we

JUST JUNIOR ST MARY ’S SCHOOL, WAVERLEY2


25 NOVEMBER 2016

From the chaplain Advent – the church season in which we "wait for the Lord", in eager anticipation of welcoming the baby Jesus into our hearts anew on Christmas Day – begins on Sunday 27 November. This, as many of us come to the end of a busy and difficult year globally. Many may feel depleted of energy, our resilience is not as high as usual and our fuses short or non-existent. The passage below comes to mind as I prepare my own heart for the season of Advent:

Have you not known? Have you not heard?The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.He does not faint or grow weary;

his understanding is unsearchable.He gives power to the faint,

and strengthens the powerless.Even youths will faint and be weary,and the young will fall exhausted;

but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,they shall mount up with wings like eagles,

they shall run and not be weary,they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:28-31Revd Claudia CoustasChaplain

look forward to her youthful energy on our team. I am sure you join me in wishing Mrs Nancy Frick and Mrs Jane Samson well as they leave St Mary’s, and enjoy more time with their loved ones.

EventsThe many Junior School celebration events are under way and they certainly are times when we, as a school, reflect on our work in order to recognise and celebrate the progress of the children. The participation in activities, contribution to class and personal development are what we acknowledge as our children move from one year to the next. Even during the busyness of year-end, I ask you to join me as I endeavour to remain calm and enjoy these celebrations, which mark another year of health and blessings in our lives.

Our Grade 7 leavers’ valedictory service and dinner will be a poignant moment for me as many of these girls commenced their St Mary’s journey as three-year-olds, when I was appointed as head of the Junior School. We have walked this road of growth and learning together. I thank the St Mary’s Board for the opportunity granted to

me in 2007, and I thank the staff and wider community for the support and friendship over the decade.

My new work in education with the Nova Pioneer Education Group is the next phase in my learning, as I will be working across a group of schools within a social enterprise model. I am looking forward to this new space, and I am grateful to Deanne King and St Mary’s for the support offered to this group for the work we will be doing.

I look forward to seeing many of you at the various events as the year comes to a close and, hopefully, when I visit the school in the future.

God’s richest blessings over the Christmas period and travel safely.

Yours sincerely

Des HugoHeadmistress: Junior School

Community service

A collection of second- hand books was donated to TOUCH AFRICA LIBRARIES

A huge donation of linen, towels and blankets were distributed to some of our regular charities, namely, Cosmos at Waverley House, Maria Kloppers Children's Home and Kids Haven. We were also able to give some of the items to individuals and families affected by the recent floods.



The St Mary’s Foundation wishes to extend a sincere and enormous thank-you to the generous St Mary’s community. This is how you have helped to change lives this year:

• An opportunity for a young woman to achieve a St Mary’s Cultural Honours blazer became a reality• A young girl of 15 is now ranked number 53 in the world junior women’s rankings at squash and number one in the South African U19 age group, because she has had access to our squash facilities and coaches • A Form II provincial athlete and 1st team netball player has excelled through access to coaching• An up-and-coming hockey player, who travelled abroad with the St Mary’s hockey team for international coaching, is on the way to achieving hockey success• Two hundred and seventy-five Grade 10, 11 and 12 pupils from Alexandra and surrounding communities were enrolled in the Saturday school at St Mary’s to receive tuition in GDE core subjects• Forty-two pupils from Alexandra, who matriculated from the St Mary’s Ikusasa Lethu Saturday school programme in 2015, are studying at university this year. Four pupils excelled and collectively achieved 16 distinctions • Twenty-three teachers from Alexandra participated in the Science teacher training programme

Should you wish to support the education programmes funded by the Foundation, we invite you to make a contribution to the St Mary’s Foundation annual Christmas appeal. A gift, no matter how big or small, can change the trajectory of the life of a young girl. To make a donation go to http://www.stmaryschool.co.za/foundation, or process an EFT to:

St Mary’s Foundation, Standard Bank, account number 20-015-588-1, Bramley branch, Ref surname/Christmas appeal

We wish you and your loved ones a blessed Christmas, and safe travels for the festive season.

Gillian O'Shaughnessy

Foundation manager

25 NOVEMBER 2016

The St Mary's Foundation



25 november 2016

SACEE Original Writing CompetitionOn Saturday 12 November, 14 girls from Grade 4 to 7 were invited to attend the annual awards ceremony for the SACEE Original Writing Competition.

The girls were awarded certificates and prizes for their poetry. They are congratulated on the high standard of their writing. St Mary’s placed first in the competition.

The award-winners were:Silver awardsGrade 4Heather Bowden

Emma ImpeyHeather Welchman

Gold awardsGrade 5 winnerLwazi MhlangaGrade 7 winnerHannah JacobsGrade 7 overall winnerSarah-Michele Ellis-Clarke

Grade 5Thiya KalanAashi Madhu

Grade 6Caroline MaskellAmber McluckieTamsyn ParkesErin Pullinger

Grade 7Jade AdamsMarion Sigamoney

Linda SmithSenior Primary teacher

PoetryMorningAs the sun rises slowly over the hills,the barn door creaks open.The farmer rakes the dry hayssscrape.Cows munch grass in the field.Buckets of milk splish splosh togetheras the farmer walks.Tractorscough and splutteras their engines start up.Horses’ shoes clip clop on the gravel.The trees whistle in the wind.Another busy day on the farm.Emma Impey

Panda in the Coffee ShopThere is a panda in the coffee shop!He’s a big problem.Oh no! What do I do?He’s picking pepper out of the pan,slurping the slush andshattering the shiny glass plates.He longingly licks the pancakes,he spills the sauce andsniffs the scraps of foodbefore bashing into a basket of coffee beans,making them bounce all over the floor.Such a small, silly pandadestroyed my coffee shop.Oh, what a mess!Heather Bowden

The GiraffeOne elongated neckTwo fuzzy hornsOne long tongueChewing, galloping, growingTall and speckledLike a skyscraperOur old tower of Africa.Heather Welchman

Grade 5 poetryBalloonPuff! Puff!The air blows into the balloonGULPLungs are emptySqueakPlastic is loopedSnapThe air is trappedWhop whop whopThe balloon bouncesPOP!Aashi Madhu

Cellphone Ring, ring.Someone is calling me.Buzz–buzzSomeone has sent mea message, got to answerthat now.Swipe, swish, swosh!Got to make sure all myapps are locked.Ding–ding, hello my name isSiri.“Oh no!”CRASH!There goes my cellphone,down to the floor it falls.I am no longer sucked to myscreen.I wish I was not a prisonerto my cellphone.

Ring, ring.Lwazi Mhlanga

Storm poemBig grey cloudsRun across the sky

Plop! Thick raindrops splat on the floor.Swoosh, a gust of windSnaps the twigs.Rumble, the ground starts to shake.A roar of thunder blastsAn evergreen tree,Letting it collapse on the ground.The tiles crack underneathLightning strikes before my eyesas I sprint to shelter.CRASH! The window breaks,Pieces of glass shatter everywhere,Chaos fills the roomas the storm rumbles on.Thiya Kalan

Grade 6 poetryHoneyLiquid golddrips off my spoon,little fairy tears,a bee’s treasureand a tiger’s eye,glistening sweet drops,finest amber -honey.Caroline Maskell

Hot chocolateWinter’s night so very cold.Boil the kettle and grab a mug.Cocoa powder, water, milkMix it, stir itA chocolate pond for marshmallow fish.Sniff and sigh delicious scents.Gulp it down.A toasty glove for freezing hands.Sticky fingers, marshmallow mess.Hot chocolateMy bestErin Pullinger



25 november 2016

CoconutIt’s a bowling ball that willgive you a strike every time,a hairy King Kongwith a white splash of sunshine,a nest for a bird with a hollow white chocolate egg,ball of health, wouldn’t you say?grass is always greener undera coconut tree. Amber McLuckie

RibsRibs, splendid and stickysizzling on the braai.Salt, pepper, spicescrumptious fingersmarinade melting in your mouthChewy delightBubbling with flavourVolcano about to explode in your mouthSmell from a mile awayJealousy from tip to toeRocking, radical ribsDecadent.Tamsyn Parkes

Grade 7 poetryDawn The smoky moonwishes the world goodbye.Tangerine rayspaint the amethyst sky.Fingertips of rose

touch the waking night,as shimmering featherstake to flight.Azure breath— the darkness dies.A colourful palette issketched through the skies.The golden glowbounces off shadows.And from sapphire light,a new day is exposed.Hannah Jacobs

NightA black cape of darknesscreeps as silently as a shadow into your bedroom,smothering your bed in its folds.Pitch black gloom — lit only by the wispy moon.A round, pale face peers through the curtains.Night watches a sleeping worldthen bows away —a strange magician welcoming dawn’s long, cool fingers.Sarah-Michele Ellis-Clarke

Dusk The sky is like her canvasand she paints it with orange,yellow and pink.Her butterscotch sun is meltingover the liquorice mountainsand twilight is tugging

at her iris scarf,pulling her into the darkness.She is a unique rainbow thatfills the sky with apricot andtangerine.But her sweet honey sunlightstruggles to last any longer.Swoosh – the wind blows,her marigold fingers losetheir grip on the skyand she falls intodarkness.Jade Adams

The City that Never SleepsThe shimmering beacons awaken the night sky like radiant stars,reflecting their beauty onto the still water.The neon lights illuminate the block of build-ings,Skyscrapers stand on their tip-toes trying to touch the night sky.The buzz in the streets is caught in the lamp lights,Lady Liberty glows with colour,Guiding ships home.New York is the city of dreams.Marion Sigamoney

St Mary's equestrian newsTo all horse riders in the Junior School, if you are interested in riding for the St Mary’s team next year, please contact me on [email protected] or Ms Wood on [email protected] for further information. There are four qualifiers, the first of which will be held on 11 and 12 February 2017 at Eaton Farm, Midrand. Riders must be committed to riding at least three qualifiers.

St Mary’s Senior School won its Gauteng Metro Category in 2016. The photo on the next page shows most of the riders from both Junior and Senior Schools having fun at the School Parade 2016.

Krisha WalukSenior School parent



25 november 2016

Tennis

The tennis season ended off with a flurry of activity. The C and D teams completed the league but unfortunately lost to a strong APPS A and B team. The Grade 4, 5, 6 and 7 festivals were held on 5 November, and all the participants enjoyed the social morning of tennis. Thank you to Mrs Samson, Mrs Lowndes and Mrs Moore for helping to manage the different age groups. The Grade 2 and 3 players also participated in a festival and much fun was had by all. Ten Grade 2 teams participated in the festival at St Mary’s and the courts were a hive of activity. The last matches of the school championships were played, and congratulations to all the winners of the various events.

Well done to all the players on a fantastic season of tennis, on and off the court. Thank you to the captains, Hannah Moore and Robyn Gush, on leading the teams with enthusiasm. My thanks are extended to Mrs Lowndes for all her help in ensuring such a successful season.

League resultsSt Mary’s C lost to APPS A 27-49St Mary’s D lost to APPS B 35-40

Final league results for Term IIIPool 1 St Mary’s A/BSt Stithians A/BSt Andrew’s A/BHoly Rosary A/BRoedean A/BSt Peter’s A/B

Pool 2 Kingsmead A/BAPPS A/B St Mary’s C/DBrescia A/BSt Teresa’s A/BSt Katharine’s A/BSt Stithians C/D

Pool 3: Roedean C/DKingsmead C/DBrescia C/DHoly Rosary C/DSt Andrew’s C/DSt Teresa’s C/DSt Peter’s C/D

St Mary’s Championship winnersGrade 4 singles Tayla GibbsGrade 5 singles Alexia BakosGrade 4 and 5 doubles Tayla Gibbs and Ava EconomakisGrade 6 and 7 singles Hannah MooreGrade 6 and 7 doubles Erin Kersten and Rebecca Jenkins

René Plant Tennis coach



25 november 2016

Grade 2 tennis players

Grade 4 festival teamSarah Hewat, Tayla Gibbs, Ava Economakis and Abigail Rigby

Grade 5 festival teamAashi Madhu, Alexia Bakos, Lizzie Lonmon-Davis and Jasmin Vermeulen

Grade 6 festival teamJessica Lansdown, Josie Apps, Victoria Dahl and Isha Madhu

Grade 7 festival teamBottom row: Erin Kersten, Abigail MilellaTop row: Hannah Moore and Rebecca Jenkins

Grade 2 tennis players



25 november 2016

Tennis cont.

St Mary’s C and D tennis team.Bottom row: Gabriella Bakos, Sasha Steyn and Claire McIvorMiddle row: Tamsyn Parkes, Anna Patricios, Samantha FaberTop row: Janet Walters, Robyn Stainforth, Ella Babaya, Danielle Grobbelaar, Samantha Pearson, Mahlatse Chocho

SwimmingAPPS gala 2016It was a bitterly cold morning on Wednesday 16 November, but nothing was going to hold the Junior Primary girls from competing in the APPS gala. They had fun singing war cries in the buses. Once we arrived the girls had a good warm-up on land and then in the pool. They swam their hearts out in each and every single race, as they were up against stiff competition.

We are most proud of our St Mary’s girls, and they can be very proud of their wonderful performance. I would also like to thank all the physical education staff for their help and input on the day, and a special mention to Michelle Zumpt, who coached the girls so well. A good team effort all round!

The results were as follows:1) St Mary’s - 2302) Kingsmead - 1993) APPS - 1904) St Andrew’s - 1825) St Teresa’s - 1436) Roedean - 128.57) Holy Rosary - 1048) St Katharine's - 749) APPS (B) - 63.5

Tracey WoodHead of department: Junior Primary Sport



25 november 2016

Swimming cont.It is with such pride that I give the final swimming results of the season. Each and every girl swam their hearts out for St Mary’s last Friday, especially the A team, who have been winning their galas but only by a few points. However, last Friday, we won by a margin of 52½, an incredible feat! Special mention must go the Grade 7 A team, who have been unbeaten in the girls' league this year – an unbelievable result. Well done!

A team - St Mary's 180½, Kingsmead 133, St Stithians A 130, St Andrew’s 128, St Teresa’s 95, Roedean 85½, APPS 83, St Stithians B 29B team - St Katharine’s A 126, St Mary’s B 107, St Andrew’s B 91, Kingsmead B 85, Assumption B 59, Roedean B 36C and D team – St Mary’s C 201, APPS B 163, St Teresa’s B 151, St Andrew’s C 146, St Katharine’s B 112, Kingsmead C 111, St Stithians C 78, St Mary’s D 73½, APPS C 44½

I leave St Mary’s knowing that the girls have learnt that hard work always pays off and to have fun and a sense of humour. What effort you put in, will always be reflected in the result – a good recipe!

Good luck to all the girls in whatever endeavour they embark upon. I shall truly miss them all. My 10 years here have been remarkable and memorable.

Jane Samson HoD: Junior School sport

Unbeaten Grade 7 A team: Cailin Otto, Abigail Milella, Jane Samson, Jade Adams, Hannah Jacobs, Aimee Hanger, Hannah Moore



25 november 2016

DivingSaturday saw the culmination of the diving season. We competed at the inter-schools competition hosted by Brescia House. Grades 3, 4 and 7 competed in the morning, and the Grade 5 and 6 competitions were in the afternoon. Two girls from each grade dived in the A section and two in the B section.

We are very proud of all the girls who participated, and gave of their best.

The final results were as follows:Section A1st St Andrew's 872nd Brescia 86.53rd St Mary's 854th Roedean 77.55th St Stithians 696th Kingsmead 49

Section B1st St Mary's 1192nd St Andrew's 1133rd Roedean 974th St Stithians 905th Kingsmead 826th Brescia 697th St Dominic's 68

QuixHead of sport

Ilana Buck, Lucy Viljoen, Nokukhanye Mthombela, Julia Joseph



25 november 2016



25 november 2016

Junior SOCS

Mondays 15h00-16h00 Where: Physio room (Pitt block)

SOCS stands for Sisters of Christ, an Anglican-based Christian fellowship group. At SOCS the girls learn how to grow a relationship with God and apply God’s Word to their everyday lives. We pray together and share the ups and downs of our lives. All Grade 4-7s are welcome to join.

Moms’ Bible study

Mondays 07h30-08h45 Where: Physio room (Pitt block)

The world is loud and demanding, but God’s voice is a still, quiet whisper. Join us at the start of every week to listen to God’s Word and pray about things that matter to you with people who care. It is impossible to describe the value of the friendships and support you will receive from this group of moms.

Please contact Rosie on 082 4141 762 if you'd like to join either of these Christian

fellowship groups, or for more information.

just junior · 2 just junior st mary’s school, waverley girls in a class of their own st mary’s...

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